9: Kant

Deontological ethics are consequence-based ethics that evaluate the morality of actions according to their results.

False

For Kant, acts done from inclination have moral worth because it is intent that matters most when determining the morality of an act.

False

Kant argued that the moral status of animals is equal to that of human beings.

False

Kant argues that acts done in accordance with duty are not ethical because when we act merely in accordance with duty we do not achieve the most desired result.

False

Kant maintained that while we have duties to the self, suicide can be consistent with fulfillment of those duties.

False

Kant thought that there is no truth about morality, and that what we consider ethical is simply a product of culture, place, or time.

False

Kant thought that we could learn about the nature of right and wrong through experience.

False

Kant's theory allows us to make the right decision in an individual circumstance by evaluating situational characteristics. For example, Kant would say that lying to help save the lives of innocents is morally acceptable.

False

The reversibility requirement of the categorical imperative is important because it focuses on whether or not an individual would consent to be the person most disadvantaged by the course of action they are proposing.

False

By "good will," Kant means the intent to do the right thing, whatever it may be.

False. For Kant, the good will is not good because of what it is able to accomplish or its propensity to bring about some sought-after end or goal, and it is not merely good intention. For Kant, good will entails bringing forward all the means in one's power to do that which is one's duty. A person is morally good when they perform an act motivated by the desire to do one's duty, simply for the sake of duty alone. You are good if you do what is required by principles of morality.

Immanuel Kant was an eighteenth century philosopher who wrote important works on epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics.

True

Kant argues that whenever we engage in an action, we are implicitly formulating a maxim indicating that it is acceptable to behave in such a way whenever we find ourselves in a similar situation.

True

Kant said that nothing is the world is good except for a good will.

True

Kant thought that the categorical imperative was the ultimate standard of morality because it requires us to answer whether our maxim could be applied to all people in all similar situations.

True

Kant thought that there is a single basis for all morality that provides absolute principles of moral conduct that are binding on everyone.

True

All of the following are elements of the categorical imperative except:

a. Determining whether or not an action produces desirable outcomes not just for oneself, but for everyone affected by the act

Kant believes all of the following with regard to justice except:

a. Justice is forward-looking inasmuch as it seeks to prevent future bad deeds

Kant's deontological ethics are an improvement over utilitarian ethics in the following way:

b. Kant's ethics says that all persons have equal moral worth, while utilitarianism says that we can justifiably violate the rights of others if it benefits the majority to do so